The latest scandal to rock French politics came less than two weeks after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief and leading Socialist presidential challenger, was charged with attempting to rape a hotel chambermaid in New York.
This time the alleged perpetrator comes from Mr Sarkozy's own ruling UMP party. Georges Tron, the public works minister, was accused of indecently assaulting the female workers, aged 34 and 36, after offering them "foot massages".
A local prosecutor yesterday confirmed the women have filed formal sexual harassment complaints.
The 52-year-old minister, who is also the mayor of Draveil, south of Paris, is alleged to have committed the assaults between 2007 and 2010. What started out as regular "therapeutic" reflexology sessions turned into full-blown sexual assault, the two women claimed.
They told Le Parisien newspaper they were encouraged to break their silence following Mr Strauss-Kahn's arrest. The former IMF chief's arrest could now spark a rash of sexual harassment complaints against French politicians. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Wednesday, May 25, 2011
